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Summary: "General Motors, which developed and later killed an electric car in the 1990s, has pulled electric-drive technology out of cryogenic storage, at least for the moment.

The company is unveiling a new electric car, called the Chevrolet Volt, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Sunday. It has only one drawback–the battery to run the car hasn’t been invented yet. Still, if GM can figure out how to produce the vehicle, it would be an ingenious next step in the slow evolution of vehicles from ones powered by gasoline to those powered by electricity."

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Be among the first to see the only one of its kind in captivity: the mythical, the magical plug-in hybrid from GM. Admission is only the price of a ticket to the Detroit auto show.

Still at least three years from production and showroom availability, the Volt concept looks extremely promising. As conceived, it could go up to 40 miles on electricity alone (a 6.5-hour charge to the lithium-ion batteries), or 640 miles using the range-extending, gasoline-powered generator.

As consumers, we should be sure to let GM know we approve of the concept and hope to be able to drive one off the lot someday soon.

For a nearly a generation, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have been championed as the long-term solution to auto

Frank Chapman

As a EV1 driver, over thirty thousand electric miles, and six years its about time for the reberth of the Electric/Hybrid car. By Hybrid I mean a car that runs full time on electricity and only some times charges from another source.

Skippy

GM is getting a lot of favorable press on this vaporware type of announcement. Contrast that with Tesla Motors which is taking orders and building a vehicle, but getting much less mainstream press. :roll

ex-EV1 driver

Oh I wouldn’t worry too much about Tesla’s press. Business Week, WSJ, Forbes, Fortune, Blackberry commercials, CNN, Times, The Economist, etc aren’t too bad for a startup company. GM has to pay for their publicity.
I do agree that there is nothing much to distinguish this from vaporware though. Indefinite delivery time, announcement of showstopping ‘problems’, bad-mouthing prior similiar technologies. let’s see, where have we heard this before?

Richard

Doesn’t take a high IQ to join the crowd bashing.
GM is partnering with the inventor of the hybrid battery. Which without them you wouldn’t have Toyota & honda’s hybrid.
Read a little you might learn something.
GM was and is the pioneer in electric.